Ladder



L. F. WILSON Sept. 12, 1967 LADDER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 13, 1965 FIG.3

INVENTO/P LOU/S F. WILSON FIG.

I ATTORNEY Sept. 12, 19 7 L. F. WILSON 3,340,960

LADDER Filed Dec. 1-3, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet f3 -45 45" 45 45 45 wF H 44 38 44 38 nvvavron 4 LOU/S F. WILSON I ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,340,960 LADDER Louis F. Wilson, 312 High St., Orange, NJ. 07050 Filed Dec. 13, 1965, Ser. No. 513,174 4 Claims. (Cl. 18239) This invention relates to portable ladders and particularly to a construction embodying one which may be used by itself or in multiple, and which may be power operated and controlled by a workman while standing thereon.

A ladder of such character is adapted to be quickly set up for operation, not only at the side wall of a building or other structure, but also along the roof thereof, and carries wheels which ride along the roof and/ or side wall, as well, as along a rail or track extending parallel to the said wall, power means being connected to the lower portion of said ladder for causing it to travel along said rail, roof, and/ or side wall.

An object of my invention is to provide a single ladder, either plain or extension, the legs of 'which are received in sleeves, the lower ends of which sleeves are pivoted on the top of a truck device having axles on which wheels turn and travel along a rail or track, provided not only with a base portion supporting the wheels, but overhanging flanges which prevent upward displacement of said wheels, allowing insertion thereof in said rail from an end only.

Another object of my invention is to provide a combination of two of such ladders, where one ladder may be brought up to a desired height, with the other ladder shorter than the first, as for a two-man operation.

A further object of my invention is to provide ladders with the lower ends of their side rails in sleeves pivotally connected to wheeled trucks traveling on a supporting rail, with brackets extending from the side rails and having lower arms on which a plank may rest for the support of workmen.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a ladder which is adapted for working on a sloping roof, said ladder having a lower section pivoted to a carrying truck and carrying wheels at its upper end for traveling along the side of a building being worked on, and an upper section similarly pivoted to the top of said lower section and lying on the roof, with wheels between the upper end of said upper section and said roof, so that both sections may travel together with the lower end of the lower section traveling on the rail, the upper end of the lower section traveling on the side of a building, and the upper end of the upper section traveling along the roof of said building.

These and other objects and advantages will become apparent from the following detailed description when taken with the accompanying drawings. It will be understood that the drawings are for purposes of illustration and-do not define the scope or limits of the invention, reference being had for the latter purpose to the appended claims.

In the drawings, wherein like reference characters denote like parts in the several views:

FIGURE 1 is an edge view representing one or more ladders embodying my invention, the lower end of which is or are supported on a truck or trucks, and the upper end of which is formed to roll along the side of a building.

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary end elevational view on the line IIII of FIGURE 1, in the direction of the arrows.

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary front elevational view of the lower portion of a ladder structure of FIGURE 1, to a larger scale.

FIGURE 4 is an elevational view of a pair of ladders, such as illustrated in FIGURE 1, connected together as a 3,340,960 Patented Sept. 12, 1967 unit and carrying a plank or beam on which workmen may stand while painting or performing other operations.

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary side elevational view, to a larger scale, of one of the sleeves or ladder-holding devices mounted on a truck carrying wheels 'which ride on a supporting rail.-

FIGURE 6 is a generally horizontal sectional view on the line VIVI of FIGURE 5, in the direction of the arrows.

FIGURE 7 is a fragmentary edge view corresponding to FIGURE 1, but showing a modification.

Referring to the drawings in detail, and first considering the embodiment of FIGURES 1 to 6, inclusive, there is shown a plank or other structure 11, held in place with respect to a floor or transverse supporting members 12 by suitable means such as an angle iron or clips 13, secured to members 12 by bolts or the like 14.

Supported on the structure 11 is a rail or track 15 held in place thereon by suitable means such as clips 16 and 17. This rail has a base portion 18 from the sides of which upstand webs 19 which terminate in flanges 21 projecting toward one another and overlying the base portion 1 8, with their inner edges spaced from one another to leave a slot 22 therebetween. Although the rail 15 is illustrated as an integral member, it may be built up from members selected from conventional structural shapes such as flats, angle irons, Z-bars, etc., to produce the specified components.

Supported on said rail 15 is a truck 23 for each ladder rail 37. Each truck has a body portion 24 overlying the flanges 21, and a depending web portion 25 which travels in the slot 22 and carries axles 26 mounted on a lower flanged or base portion 27 and on which are mounted carrying wheels 28 which ride on the base portion 18 and are prevented from undesired lateral displacement by being confined between the flanges 21 of the rail 15. At the same time, the flanges 21 prevent the wheels 28 from being displaced upwardly from the rail 15, so that the truck 23 is to be assembled with respect to said rail by inserting it horizontally from an end. The wheels are thus disposed between the flanges 21 and the base portion 18 of the rail.

Flanges 29, pairs of which may be connected by webs 31 rigidly secured to the body portion 24 of each truck, upstand from said body portion and are interleaved with respect to flanges 32. The latter depend from a platform 33, to which they may be secured as by having pairs thereof connected by webs or bases 32, which are in turn rigidly secured to the lower surface of the platform 33. The interleaved flanges 29 and 32 are pivoted together by means of a single rod or axle 34 for each truck, whereby each platform 33 may pivot or rotate with respect to its truck 23. A sleeve 35 has its lower end connected to each platform 33 so that it upstands therefrom. A ladder 36, formed of rails 37 connected by rungs 38, has the lower ends of said rails 37 snugly received in the sleeves of adjacent trucks, one per truck.

Each sleeve 35 is desirably formed as illustrated in FIGURES l and 4. These sleeves may be of steel or other suitable metal, and the side rails of each ladder, whether plain or of the extension type, may if desired be made of wood. The relative sizes of the ladder side rails and their sleeves are such that the lower end of each ladder side rail snugly fits in its sleeve, as illustrated.

As shown most clearly in FIGURES 1, 3, 4, and 5, the employment of the pivot members 34 allows for the swinging of each ladder to a position, such as shown most clearly in FIGURE 1, where its upper end portion engages and is supported on a vertical wall 61 of a building or other structure to be worked on. In order to allow for easy transportation of the ladder along such a vertical wall, the upper end of the ladder or each of the ladders 36 has a rung 38 with extensions forming brackets 44, shown most clearly in FIGURE 2, which are turned, as there illustrated, toward the wall 61 and the wall-adjacent ends thereof carry axles 45 on which are mounted wheels 45, which are adapted to roll along the side wall 61 of the building, to the place selected by the workmen.

This movement of the ladder along the side of the building may be eifected manually or by means of a power device, such as an electric motor 46, suitably connected by a belt 47 or the like to reduction gearing 48, associated with a drum (not shown), in turn connected by a cable or the like 49, windable on said drum, to the adjacent truck 23 of a ladder or group of ladders 36 so that, when energized, as by means of a suitable control cord carried by a workman on the ladder, the motor 46 will operate, wind up the cable 49, and thereby pull the truck and its connected truck, ladder or ladders 36 along the rail 15 to the place selected by the worker, without adding to the weight of the ladder.

It will be understood that the motor 46 may pull one ladder, illustrated in FIGURE 1, or a plurality of ladders, two being illustrated in FIGURE 4. If a plurality of ladders is used, they may be connected to operate as a unit and held in coplanar relationship with respect to one another by a rung device 51 extending between the ladders and with its protruding ends threaded, as indicated at 52, and carrying nuts 53 for holding the rung device tightly in place with respect to its ladders, whereby the two or more ladders are rigidly held together.

Especially when two or more ladders are used, as in FIGURE 4, it is desirable to run a plank or platform device 54 from one ladder to another to give a greater range of movement to an operator, even if the ladders are not moved along the supporting rail. Such a plank 54 is desirably supported from each ladder by means of a bracket 55. Each bracket 55 is desirably a one-piece rod, as illustrated, and has an upper arm 56 connected near one of the rails 37 to one rung 38, as by being bent thereover or around, as illustrated in FIGURE 1, and a lower arm 52 angularly disposed with respect thereto and connected near the same rail to the adjacent rung 38 therebeneath in a similar manner, whereby excessive bending of the rung is avoided and a clear space is left between the supporting rungs as well as for the reception of said plank 54- and the support thereof on the lower arms of said brackets, as illustrated most clearly in FIG- URES 1 and 4.

If it is desired to work on the roof of the or a building, the side wall of which is indicated at 61a in FIGURE 7, the upper end portions of the side rails 37a of such a ladder 36a carry sleeves 35a which may correspond with the sleeves 35 though reversed in position, that is, with their closed ends uppermost. Other sleeves 35b, which may be similar to the sleeves 35a, but reversed in position, are then pivoted to the closed or platformed ends of said upper sleeves, as indicated at 34a, and open upwardly, receiving the lower ends of an upper ladder or extension 36b, so as to allow said extension 3617 to lie along the roof 58 of the building 43a, for repair or other desired operations thereon.

The upper end portions of the side rails 37a of the ladder 36a and the upper end portions of the side rails 37b of the ladder extension 36b desirably carry extensions 44a and 44b, respectively, which in turn carry wheels 45a and 45b, respectively, to travel along the side wall 61a and roof 58 of the structure being worked on, as the ladder assembly 36a-36b is moved as a unit along such a building, along a rail or track, not shown, but which may correspond with that designated 15 in the first embodiment. Except as specifically described in connection with the second embodiment, the same may correspond with the embodiment of FIGURES 1 to 6, inclusive.

Ladders embodying my invention may be used in the following ways, which are given only as examples:

(1) Single ladder, one man. Put legs of ladder in the sleeves. Raise ladder to stand-up position, bring up extension to height desired, and lean against house.

(2) Two ladders put in sleeves, one ladder brought up to height wanted. Other ladder shorter than first. This is for a two-man operation.

(3) Two ladders put in sleeves, spread to the desired length, ladder brackets put on each ladder and scalfolding plank put on ladder brackets.

(4) Three-ladder scaffolding. Three ladders put in sleeves, ladders brought up to desired height, separate ladders to length of scaffolding wanted, ladder brackets and scaffolding planks put in position.

(5) Ladder for sloping roof. Ladder put in sleeves raised to stand-up position and brought to height of lower edge of roof. Put desired length of second ladder, put pin in top of first ladder and pin thereto upper section of ladder and lay on roof.

Having now described my invention in detail in accordance with the requirements of the patent statutes, those skilled in this art will have no difliculty in making changes or modifications in the individual parts or their relative assembly in order to meet specific requirements or conditions. Such changes and modifications may be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention, as set forth in the following claims.

I claim:

1. In combination, a track, side rails connected by rungs and forming a ladder, a truck with a body and normally horizontal axles on which wheels are turnable at the lower end of said ladder and adapted to travel on said track along a line parallel to the plane of said side rails, flanges upstand from said truck body, a platform overlying said flanges, and extending to cover said body and its wheels, a sleeve the lower end of which is connected to said platform and which opens upwardly and receives the lower end portion of a rail of said ladder, flanges depending from said platform and interleaved with respect to said upstanding flanges, and a single rod passing through all of said interleaved flanges to pivot the lower end of said ladder to said truck body.

2. In a combination as recited in claim 1, wherein there is a truck for each ladder rail, one of said sleeves upstands from each platform with the lower end portion of one of said side rails received therein, each sleeve having side walls connected by end walls which extend the full length of said sleeve, the exterior one of said side walls terminating short of said end walls and the interior one of said side walls being bifurcated to allow for the reception of a lower rung of said ladder, the track is formed with a base portion on which the firstmentioned wheels travel, and flanges overlying said base portion and said wheels to prevent upward displacement of the latter.

3. In a combination as recited in claim 1, wherein wheels are carried at the upper end of said ladder for traveling along a structure to be worked on along a line also parallel to the plane of said side rails.

4. In combination, a track, side rails connected by rungs and forming a ladder, wheels carried at the lower end of said ladder and adapted to travel, on said track without undesired lateral displacement, along a line parallel to the plane of said side rails, a rung at the upper end of said ladder with extensions which form brackets which outstand from said side rails, an axle carried by each bracket between its rail and the side of a structure to be worked on, wheels rotatable on said axles for traveling along the structure to be worked on along a 5 6 line also parallel to the plane of said side rails, 21 similar 1,094,213 4/ 1914 Jones 18212 ladder section pivoted to the upper end of each of said 2,578,862 12/ 1951 Tims 182117 side rails, another bracket outstanding from the upper end 2,788,930 4/ 1957 Pals 182214 portion of each of the side rails of said ladder section, 2,800,371 7/1957 Quercetti 182117 an axle carried by each of said other brackets between 5 2,871,067 1/ 1959 Brogdon 182121 its rail and the roof of the structure to be Worked on, 2,902,110 9/1959 Erickholdt 18236 and Wheels carried on each axle at the upper end of said 3,232,375 2/1966 Warthen 182127 ladder extens1on. FOREIGN PATENTS References C'ted 646 868 11/1950 G t B '1 UNITED STATES PATENTS 10 ma n 463,218 11/1891 Coburn et a1. 18238 REINALDO P. MACHADO, Primary Examiner.

907,401 12/1908 Prouty 182-163 

1. IN COMBINATION, A TRACK, SIDE RAILS CONNECTED BY RUNGS AND FORMING A LADDER, WITH A BODY AND NORMALLY HORIZONTAL AXLES ON WHICH WHEELS ARE TURNABLE AT THE LOWER END OF SAID LADDER AND ADAPTED TO TRAVEL ON SAID TRACK ALONG A LINE PARALLEL TO THE PLANE OF SAID SIDE RAILS, FLANGES UPSTAND FROM SAID TRUCK BODY, A PLATFORM OVERLYING SAID FLANGES, AND EXTENDING TO COVER SAID BODY AND ITS WHEELS, A SLEEVE THE LOWER END OF WHICH IS CONNECTED TO SAID PLATFORM AND WHICH OPENS UPWARDLY AND RECEIVES THE LOWER END PORTION OF A RAIL OF SAID LADDER, FLANGED DEPENDING FROM SAID PLATFORM AND INTERLEAVED WITH RESPECT TO SAID UPSTANDING FLANGES, AND A SINGLE ROD PASSING THROUGH ALL OF SAID INTERLEAVED FLANGES TO PIVOT THE LOWER END OF SAID LADDER TO SAID TRUCK BODY. 